I've posing this question to a few different faith communities and would like to hear what Baptists have to say. How would you describe the purpose of music in Baptist worship and what styles of music are most effective?

I've posing this question to a few different faith communities and would like to hear what Baptists have to say. How would you describe the purpose of music in Baptist worship and what styles of music are most effective?

DFG,

Music in Baptist worship traditionally had been the hymns of the Church, which one minister I had said teaches more theology to the people than even the preaching during the service.

Many Churches have gone over to contemporary praise music which in my opinion is not as substantial as the hymns.

For those who have faith, no explanation is neccessary.For those who have no faith, no explanation is possible.

St. Thomas Aquinas

If one turns his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer is an abomination. Proverbs 28:9

In our Southern Baptist community, the choir is known as "Worship leaders". Music to begin worship services is there to uplift the congregation. Music is a universal language and speaks to many people in a way that words never could. While I love the old hymns, I believe contemporary music has it's place as well. It's important to have music that is familiar but always be able to use new songs or arrangements. Whatever the style of each particular church, music as in all things should be used to bring glory unto the Lord, draw believers closer to Him and prick the heart of the unbeliever that they might accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

One of the aspects of my church that I really appreciate is that instead of "splitting the baby", when it came to music, (as in forcing a choice one way or another), the leadership simply decided to include both traditional and contemporary. Perhaps it made the service run a little longer than before, but aside from that, it seems like everyone has something to look forward to when they come.

From the way I see it, demanding the congregation stick with one style seems unnecessarily contentious.

My congregation, which has five services per week, uses primarily contemporary christian music during services. There was a very loud contingent that wanted to use traditional baptist hymns during worship. So, to accomodate this contingent, one service was reserved for only traditional baptist music during worship. The word was passed through every possible conduit, so that every member of the congregation (~5000) was aware of the music at this service. This service was continued for one year, when it was determined that less than 30 people attended the service on any given week. When the service resumed with the contemporary music, weekly attendance at that service jumped to over 600 per week.

The question is, how far should a pastoral staff go to accomodate the few at the expense of the many?

“Some men see things as they are and say, why; I dream things that never were and say, why not.” Robert F. Kennedy, 1968